It’s like I’m staring at my soul when I look at this wall.

I’ve been here at Harvard for the past week-and-a-half, almost two weeks. I arrived Saturday, September 6th and was here for a week of orientation. I loved orientation; I got to hang out with my roommates and my entrywaymates. here at Harvard the buildings are divided by entryways rather than halls; people in specific entryways have to enter through the same door, forcing us to interact with each other and to be friends.

I’m the only person from Los Angeles in my entryway and one of four people from California; two are from Orange County and the other one is from the San Francisco Bay Area. I don’t see all of the people of my entryway, maybe because I am on the third floor, but I hang out with most people. We are a “diverse” group, I guess, even though six are from Massachusetts, five from the Boston area. I’m one of two Mexicans in my entryway; the other one is from Phoenix and I really like her. We have someone from Palestine and someone from Northern Ireland; they are the only international students in our entryway. Everyone else is scattered from around the United States.

6 Responses

It depends on the building. They try to keep it manageable so people can get to know each other, but some are a bit too big. My entryway (as all others in my building) has twenty-two people, which is not a bad number at all.

If the tradition is still the same, during the last week before graduation senior year, they’ll do a senior champagne brunch where they’ll reseat you with those entryway-mates. It’s fun to visit with the people who knew you when you were 18 and new to the place when you’re 22 and on the verge of embarking on the “next step” in your life. It’s especially nice, since odds are you won’t end up living in the same house as those entryway mates in your upperclass years.

Or, maybe this is just an admonition to not piss them off, since you will see them again.

Congrats. You carry the hope of so many in attending Harvard, but I know that you are already aware of that. I went to college with a young woman who grew up in similar circumstances in Huntington Park, and she went on to greatness. I hope that you have similar success.